Coping Strategies and Social Support of Women Living with HIV/AIDS

Being infected with HIV/AIDS virus brings psychological and sociological shock for the individual, resulting psychological trauma, discrimination, social ostracisation and exclusion. To overcome these, they have to develop strategies and way to cope with the infection in day to day life. The present study explores the coping mechanisms for women victims of HIV/AIDS that involves its specifically either individual and/or cultural. Such coping strategies are mostly related to set of beliefs about health, illness, social resources, community norms, systems and stigma that the victims live with. Other than understanding the coping ways it is also necessary to look into the varied experiences associated with stigma, discrimination, denial and social reactions they are confronted with in the society. Moreover, what is more important is the necessity to find out how HIV/AIDS is perceived in the context of various social- cultural beliefs and the type of support provided to the victims by their families, communities and the government and non-government agencies as also the alternative support strategies necessary for making life worth living for HIV positive and AIDS affected women.

Autorentext

Dr. Kusum Bharati is currently working as a data Manager in Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI), Gurgaon. She holds her post graduation, M.Phil and Ph.D from the University of Hyderabad. Her specialization is in Medical Anthropology.She has done ethnographic studies on Kondha Tribe of Odisha and Urban Slums in Hyderabad city of Andhra Pradesh